Pepper tree

“ In all parts of India, both of the western and eastern regions, there is pepper and ginger, and in some parts the greatest quantity of pepper is found wild in the woods, where it grows without any care or cultivation, except the trouble of gathering it when ripe. The tree on which the pepper grows is not unlike our ivy, and runs in the same manner up to the top of such trees as grow in its neighbourhood, for if it were not to get hold of some tree it would lie flat on the ground and perish. ”

“ In localities where the pepper does not grow wild, ground is selected which permits of free drainage, but which is not too dry nor liable to inundation, and cuttings are planted at about a foot from the trees either in the rainy season in June or in the dry season in February. Sometimes several cuttings about 18 inches long are placed in a basket and buried at the root of the tree, the cuttings being made to slope towards the trunk. In October or November the young plants are manured with a mixture of leaves and cow-dung. ”

“ And you shall understand that the pepper grows like a wild vine, which is planted close by the trees of that wood, to sustain it; the fruit hangs like bunches of grapes, with which the tree is so laden that it seems that it would break; and when it is ripe, it is all green like ivy berries; and then men cut them as they do the vines, and put them upon an oven, where they become black and crisp. ”

“ Production—In the south-west of India, the plant, or Pepper Vine as it is called, grows on the sides of the narrow valleys where the soil is rich and moist, producing lofty trees by which a constant, favourable coolness is maintained. In such places the pepper-vine runs along the ground and propagates itself by striking out roots into the soil. The natives tie up the end of the vines lying on the ground to the nearest tree, on the bark of which the stems put out roots so far as they have been tied, the shoots above that hanging down. ”

“ If the pepper garden is small, the vines may be planted near the trees already growing. Plants raised from the seed in nurseries are transplanted in May or June, being placed in the prepared holes five feet apart with their root end from the tree and with the growing perennial vine top directed towards its support. The root should be as far distant as possible from the support. If the plants are of slow growth, manure may be applied to the surface of the ground. In China burnt earth and rotten fish are used. ”

“ Pepper-raising in Cambodia.—The pepper plant, says M. Adhémard Leclère, in the Revue Scientifique, is not a bush, as some writers say, but a vine which has to be supported by a tree when wild and by a strong stake when cultivated. The author has seen the vines growing nearly wild near Chandoc in Cambodia, where they had been planted by the villagers and left to themselves. They grew vigorously and to considerable length, but bore only a few bunches of fruit and that of an inferior quality. ”

“ Long, deep, broad, parallel ridges cover the surface of the land, dotted here and there with magnificent specimens of the locust-bean tree, the shea, the tamarind, and many other varieties, under whose shade it seems a favourite device to grow a catch crop of pepper. How does the soil retain, year after year, its nutritive properties? ”

“ This plant has a red fibrous bark, of which as much use is made in manufacturing cordage as of the embira branca; but the bark ought not be permitted to be gathered, for the tree produces seeds, of which the capsules have the taste and the pungency of black pepper. Many persons make use of them as a spice in cooking, and some even prefer them to pepper; they are carminative. If the bark is taken off, the tree dies; the seeds are worthy of becoming an article of trade as a spice. ”

“ BERTHA’S VISIT. Dec. 1st.—Colonel Travers, who every day tells us something curious that he has seen in his travels, has been describing the cultivation of the pepper vine in the East Indies. In July, at the beginning of the rainy season, from eight to twelve shoots are planted round some tree chosen for their support; as they grow up they must be tied to its stem, and in dry or hot weather they are watered. They begin to bear in six years; in ten, they are in full perfection, and continue so for twenty years more, when they die. ”

“ In some places, when the vines are from a year to eighteen months old and have grown five feet up the support, they are carefully detached and the ends, having been coiled up in a spiral form, are buried in a hole dug in the ground close to its roots, except a small surface of the stem. This process is called letting down. It insures a large crop, producing seven or more vines to one supporting tree. Plants raised from cuttings will only bear from seven to eight years, but the quantity and quality of the pepper is far superior to that raised from the seed. ”

“ They rise to about eighty feet without a branch; the wood is said to be of the best quality, almost as light as that of the best Norway masts; and the turpentine obtained from it is remarkable for purity and whiteness. The fern tree is found also of a great height for its species, measuring from seventy to eighty feet, and affords excellent food for the sheep and other small cattle. A plant producing pepper, and supposed to be the true oriental pepper, has been discovered lately in the island, growing in great plenty ”

“ The vines, however, in this case are apt to die, and in the province of Malabar but little white pepper is now made.
A good plant produces about 32 pounds: this is the highest produce; 21 pounds is the average. The mango tree is preferred for supporting the pepper vine, as the fruit is not affected by it; but the fruit of the jack tree, which is also used for the purpose, is thought to be injured in flavour by the pepper being so near it.
The Colonel says, that the pepper plant is not a vine in reality, though the knotted stem when dry has much the appearance of a common grape vine. ”

“ Pepp′er-grass, any plant of genus Lepidium; Pepp′eriness; Pepp′ermint, a species of mint, aromatic and pungent like pepper: a liquor distilled from the plant: a lozenge flavoured with peppermint—Peppermint-drop, a confection so flavoured; Pepp′er-pot, a West Indian dish, of cassareep, together with flesh or dried fish and vegetables, esp. green okra and chillies: tripe shredded and stewed, with balls of dough and plenty of pepper; Pepp′er-tree, a shrub of the cashew family, native to South America, &c.—also Pepper shrub and Chili pepper ”

“ The white costeth seven deniers a pound, and the black is sold after foure deniers by the pound."—Pliny, tr. by Phil. Holland, Bk. xii. ch. 7.
c. 80-90.—"And there come to these marts great ships, on account of the bulk and quantity of pepper and malabathrum.... The pepper is brought (to market) here, being produced largely only in one district near these marts, that which is called Kottonarikē."—Periplus, § 56.
c. A.D. 100.—"The Pepper-tree (πέπερι δένδρον) is related to grow in India; it is short, and the fruit as it first puts it forth is long, resembling pods ”

“ The spikes are collected in bags or baskets and dried in the sun. When dry the pepper is put into bags containing from 64 to 128 ℔. In Sumatra the yield is estimated at about 11/2 ℔ per plant per annum. In Malabar each vine gives 2 ℔ a year up to the fifteenth or twentieth year, or about 24 ℔ from each tree, a single tree sometimes supporting eight or twelve vines; an acre is calculated to bear 2500 plants, to cost about £4 in outlay to bring it into bearing, and to yield a produce of £80 when in its best condition.
White pepper differs only in being prepared from the ripe fruits. ”

“ If that be plucked from the tree before they gape and open of themselves, they make that spice which is called Long pepper; but if as they do ripen, they cleave and chawne by little and little, they shew within the white pepper: which afterwards beeing parched in the Sunne, chaungeth colour and waxeth blacke, and therewith riveled also.... Long pepper is soone sophisticated, with the senvie or mustard seed of Alexandria: and a pound of it is worth fifteen Roman deniers. ”

“ A species of long pepper is found in great plenty, but it has little of the aromatic flavour that makes spices valuable; and a tree, much like a palm at a distance, is pretty frequent in the woods, though the deceit appears as you come near it. ”

“ It is much superior to down for the couch, and, from its elasticity, might be of great utility in the manufacture of hats. This tree is in great estimation among the Africans, and is frequently regarded by them as their Fetish. Every town almost has a tree of this species towering over its huts, which its chief tells the traveller with exultation he or his father planted.
Tobacco is uncertain, but I entertain very little doubt that it might be raised upon the more luxuriant soils.
Pepper, more particularly near Cape Mount, of several sorts, Maboobo, Massaaba, Massa, Amquona, Tosan, &c. ”

“ Cayenne pepper, or chili is much grown in tropical Africa and America, but less generally used than black pepper.
Pistacia is a small tree, about twenty feet high, and native to Persia and Syria, but now cultivated in all parts of southern Europe and northern Africa. Flowers in racemes, fruit ovate and about the size of an olive. Pistachio nuts are much esteemed; but readily become rancid. Oil is expressed from them for culinary and other uses.
A PINE-APPLE PLANTATION IN FLORIDA
Pine-apple (Ananassa sativa) is highly esteemed and much cultivated for its fruit. ”

“ This tree carrieth his fruite in clusters like a hawthorne, but that it is greene, each berry of the bignesse of a pepper corne, and every of them containing within foure or five graynes, twise as bigge as a musterd-seed, which broken, are white within, as the good pepper, and bite much like it, but hotter. The barke of this tree hath the savour of all kinde of spices together, most comfortable to the stomache, and held to be better then any spice whatsoever. ”

“ In planting a new garden where no wild pepper vines are to be had, level land is selected which borders on a river or small stream without much sloping, but not so low as to be liable to any overflow from the stream, as the land must be kept well drained. Pepper is a hardy plant and will grow on almost any soil, but not on old, worn-out plantations or on poor sandy or clay soil, as more depends on the soil than on the cultivation. It should not be planted on hillsides because the earth will wash from the roots in time of rains. ”

“ In India the natives simplify the cultivation of pepper by tying the wild-growing vines to a height of six feet to neighboring trees and clearing away the under-wood, leaving just enough trees to provide shade. The roots are covered with heaps of leaves and the shoots are trimmed or clipped twice a year. In localities where the pepper does not grow wild, well drained but not very dry soil not liable to inundations is selected. ”

“ Harvest twise yn the yere. In the eighth leafe: It is a place wonderful, fertile and of stronge scituation, the grounde fatt, so that it is like that it would bringe forthe wheate and all other come twise a yere.
Pepper groweth here; yt is longe pepper. In the ninth leafe yt followeth: Wee founde there a greate nomber of pepper trees, the pepper beinge yet greene and not ready to be gathered. ”

“ The sands of Piura which stretch from the coast at Paita back to the Cordilleras have in them possibilities that are yet barely dreamed. The cotton tree of Piura amazes the beholder when he sees it in all stages of production,—in bud, in fleecy blossom, and in seed. The quality surprises the expert. It is finer than the finest Egyptian and is equal to certain grades of wool. It is known variously as vegetable wool and as wool cotton. Irrigation is employed to a limited extent. One ambitious scheme which was to bring 60,000 acres under cultivation was stopped for lack of capital. ”

“ The small sprout nursed on the Neva, which had been exhibited on the Rhine, and thence brought to the Thames, grew up here to a mighty tree, the fruit-laden branches of which, along with those from trees grown up since, extend more and more over the lands and seas of the Eastern hemisphere, whilst kindred trees planted in the Western hemisphere have covered that part of the world with their branches, some of which will, ere long, be interwoven with those in our hemisphere. ”

“ Peppers are worth trying. If you do not care for them in your home gardens, add them to the school garden. They work in with the courses in cooking. Just as egg plants are started inside, so ought peppers to be. Whenever the soil is warm and the weather settled, the pepper plants may go out. The best soil for them is a rich, sandy one. The little plants should have about one and a half foot of space on all sides. At first they look pretty lonesome so far apart but soon they will grow to large, bushy plants. ”

“ Our greater supply now comes from Zanzibar, Nepaul, Bombay, and Penang. Almost every gardener knows the red pepper plant. The plants are generally started in a nursery or hot-house in early spring, from the seed, and are transplanted when a few inches high, as soon as the weather will permit, in the prepared garden, about four feet apart. When about six inches high, a little rich fertilizer should be worked in the soil about the plants. The Cayenne pepper plant is an annual and is a slow grower, and it seldom rises higher than four feet. ”